Searching for axion-like particle decay in the near-infrared background: an updated analysis

Caputo, Andrea; Vittino, Andrea; Fornengo, N.; Regis, Marco; Taoso, Marco

doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2021/05/046

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…changes in the ionization history of the Universe in the case of radiative decays [81]. Radiative decays of axions with masses of few eV might also affect the extra-galactic background light [82,83]. Given the bounds shown in Table 1, this means that for T RH < 30 MeV the mass of axions stable on cosmological timescales is essentially unconstrained by the data considered in this analysis.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…It is also intriguing to mention that multi-eV would lead to an enhancement in the solar axion flux via resonant production in the solar magnetic field [90]. Furthermore, axions with masses between 2-3 eV decaying into photons might explain the measured excess in the infrared photon background [82,83]. From a model-building perspective, there exist "astrophobic" models in which one would relax the axion mass bounds above eV [91].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Thermal axions with multi-eV masses are possible in low-reheating scenarios

Carenza,

Lattanzi,

Mirizzi

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We revise cosmological mass bounds on axions in low-reheating cosmological scenarios, with a reheating temperature T RH ≤ 100 MeV, in light of the latest cosmological observations. In this situation, the neutrino decoupling would be unaffected, while the thermal axion relic abundance is suppressed. Moreover, axions are colder in low-reheating temperature scenarios, so that bounds on their abundance are possibly loosened. As a consequence of these two facts, cosmological mass limits on axions are relaxed. Using state-ofthe-art cosmological data and characterizing axion-pion interactions at the leading order in chiral perturbation theory, we find in the standard case an axion mass bound m a < 0.26 eV. However, axions with masses m a 1 eV, or heavier, would be allowed for reheating temperatures T RH 80 MeV. Multi-eV axions would be outside the mass sensitivity of current and planned solar axion helioscopes and would demand new experimental approaches to be detected.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal axions with multi-eV masses are possible in low-reheating scenarios

Carenza,

Lattanzi,

Mirizzi

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One way to search for axion dark matter is by observing its decay into two photons [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. However, compact objects have long been known to offer a useful avenue in which to probe axions and ALPs in a variety of ways [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33].…”

Section: Jhep09(2021)105mentioning

confidence: 99%

Radio line properties of axion dark matter conversion in neutron stars

Battye

Garbrecht

McDonald

et al. 2021

J. High Energ. Phys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Axions are well-motivated candidates for dark matter. Recently, much interest has focused on the detection of photons produced by the resonant conversion of axion dark matter in neutron star magnetospheres. Various groups have begun to obtain radio data to search for the signal, however, more work is needed to obtain a robust theory prediction for the corresponding radio lines. In this work we derive detailed properties for the signal, obtaining both the line shape and time-dependence. The principal physical effects are from refraction in the plasma as well as from gravitation which together lead to substantial lensing which varies over the pulse period. The time-dependence from the co-rotation of the plasma with the pulsar distorts the frequencies leading to a Doppler broadened signal whose width varies in time. For our predictions, we trace curvilinear rays to the line of sight using the full set of equations from Hamiltonian optics for a dispersive medium in curved spacetime. Thus, for the first time, we describe the detailed shape of the line signal as well as its time dependence, which is more pronounced compared to earlier results. Our prediction of the features of the signal will be essential for this kind of dark matter search.

show abstract

“…There are ongoing efforts to constrain this possibility with cosmological and astrophysical observations over a vast mass range(see e.g., Refs. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Radiative decays of axion-like particles have been considered to explain the anomalous excesses in the power spectrum of the near-infrared background measured by HST [60], CIBER [61] and Spitzer [12,62]. The predicted axion parameters that provide a good fit to the measurements [26,27] roughly coincide with those that would explain the COB excess in the low-mass end of the mass range considered in this work; however, this part of the parameter space is ruled out by independent probes [55,57].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The cosmic optical background excess, dark matter, and line-intensity mapping

Bernal¹,

Sato-Polito²,

Kamionkowski³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent studies using New Horizons LORRI images have returned the most precise measurement of the cosmic optical background to date, yielding a flux that exceeds that expected from deep galaxy counts by roughly a factor of two. We investigate whether this excess, detected at ∼ 4σ significance, is due to dark matter that decays to a monoenergetic photon with a rest-frame energy in the range 0.5 − 10 eV. We derive the spectral energy distribution from such decays and the contribution to the flux measured by LORRI. The parameter space that explains the measured excess with decays to photons with energies E 4 eV is unconstrained to date. If the excess arises from dark-matter decay to a photon line, there will be a significant signal in forthcoming line-intensity mapping measurements. Moreover, the ultraviolet instrument aboard New Horizons (which will have better sensitivity and probe a different range of the spectrum) and future studies of very high-energy γ-ray attenuation will also test this hypothesis and expand the search for dark matter to a wider range of frequencies.

show abstract

Searching for axion-like particle decay in the near-infrared background: an updated analysis

Cited by 19 publications

References 70 publications

Thermal axions with multi-eV masses are possible in low-reheating scenarios

Thermal axions with multi-eV masses are possible in low-reheating scenarios

Radio line properties of axion dark matter conversion in neutron stars

The cosmic optical background excess, dark matter, and line-intensity mapping

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About